Ammonia Capture via an Unconventional Reversible Guest-Induced Metal-Linker Bond Dynamics in a Highly Stable Metal-Organic Framework

Abstract

An unprecedented reversible guest-induced metal-linker bond rearrangement in metal-organic framework (MOFs) was revealed by quantum-calculations and DRIFT experiments. As a showcase, the prototypical MOF-type MFM-300(Sc) was demonstrated to undergo a substantial Sc-carboxylate bond dynamics upon ammonia adsorption to enable a strong metal-guest binding mode, a key feature to ensure a highly efficient capture of this toxic molecule. Decisively, we evidenced this adsorption mechanism to be fully reversible, preserving the ammonia capture performance and structure integrity over multiple cycles. Such an unconventional mechanism in MOFs can open up new avenues to design novel materials for an efficient capture of highly corrosive molecules.